


A New Etherian Sky

by spaceshuttles



Series: when the fighting is done and we can rest [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Stargazing, i love angst..., most of the characters are just mentioned I'm sorry y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceshuttles/pseuds/spaceshuttles
Summary: The war has ended and the first night of peace has left Catra with a lot to think about.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: when the fighting is done and we can rest [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782025
Comments: 2
Kudos: 64





	A New Etherian Sky

Bright Moon was finally quiet. After Horde Prime and his troops were neutralized, the Princesses had agreed to hold a large banquet for the citizens of Etheria to be able to have a nice meal, get any supplies they may need as they rebuild, and generally, _finally_ , be able to relax without the threat of the Horde. All evening it seemed the Princesses and the castle staff were bustling around putting up decorations and coming up with extensive menus and swathes of storage items to be picked from. But at last the castle was ready, the food was prepped, and everyone was resting before the day of festivities coming with the new sun. 

That’s when Catra felt comfortable enough to explore the castle. 

For the past few hours the hallways were filled with energy and laughter and yeah, that was great, but too much of a good thing all at once for Catra after everything she had endured. She and Melog had kept to the shadows, a crutch, Catra realized, she would have to let go of at some point. The two snuck bites at the different tested menu items for the big day, clearly mischief still being something that Catra got a kick out of doing. But the night got closer and she realized at some point she and Adora would have to have _that_ conversation because it only made sense for them to share a bed. Just like old times, not to mention that neither of them slept particularly well when alone. However, Catra didn’t particularly mind being in limbo of whether or not what was said in the Heart was just heat of the moment or something more. If just for a little while, she wanted to act like all of her troubles ended there. When the sun rose, she would begin to make right all of the harm she brought to Etheria. 

Catra paused as she entered the planning room and smirked as she imagined all of her new friends gathered around the large table. After watching the Best Friends Squad’s planning in action, she was sure it was amusing to listen to the whole group spitballing strategies. She imagined Frosta trying to command the room and shivered. That punch still stung anytime she thought of it. She did kind of deserve it though. 

“Oh,” Catra whispered. There was Angella and Micah, made to look two stories tall as part of the room’s mural. Catra wrapped her arms around herself and frowned as she looked up at Angella’s blank face. She glanced around the room, making sure she was alone, before speaking. “I’m sorry, Queen Angella. For getting you… I’m not sure if ‘killed’ is the right word, but you know what I mean.” She frowned and looked down at her feet, bare against the castle floor. “Activating the portal was pretty stupid, huh? I don’t think I even _cared_ if anyone was going to get hurt because I was hurting so much. That’s not an excuse though.” She whispered out the last part, squeezing her eyes shut. 

“You wanna know something, Queen Angella? Your daughter is kind of a badass.” She laughed and wiped at her eyes. “I mean, I make her mom disappear, attack her and her friends, and then she turns around and fights alongside me without even talking to me about everything. That’s… that’s pretty cool.” Catra looked up at the blank face again and found herself laughing. “I’m talking to a painting! I’m crazy.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Catra jumped, all of her hair standing on edge and her eyes wide. She whipped around to see Glimmer standing in the darkness, her arms wrapped around herself. 

“Shit, I’m sorry, I should have asked if I could… I don’t even know. Shit.” Catra mimicked her position and gently scraped the floor with her feet. 

Glimmer held their eye contact for a while, an unreadable look in her eyes. She finally broke it and looked up at the mural. “It’s okay. That you’re talking to her, I mean. I do it sometimes, too.” She walked over to the wall and placed a hand on it. “It’s almost funny that I lose my mom and get my dad back. My dad forgives you, by the way. We’ve talked.” Glimmer rolled her eyes, “I think he sees everyone in the castle younger than him as his child now so he’s letting everyone off the hook.” She then smiled softly. “He’s just so happy to be back.”

Glimmer had mentioned Micah’s forgiveness so casually, unaware of the way it lifted a weight from Catra’s shoulders. One less person to completely beat herself up over. “Do you think he’s going to take over as King again?” Catra asked neutrally. 

“Yeah, probably. I’d much rather go out and see the universe and help She-ra: it’s way more fun than sitting in royal briefings all day.” 

Catra hummed and flicked her tail, feeling nervous at the tension of all that was unspoken between them. All she could stomach to say was, “Makes sense.”

Glimmer took the Queen’s seat at the table and side-eyed Catra. “I’m not sure if I’m ever going to be able to fully forgive and forget what you did,” she said slowly. She didn’t miss the way Catra dug her own nails into her palms. “But if my dad did, and I _know_ Mom would have figured out how to, then... I’m willing to try. I know you’re not all bad, Catra. You _saved_ me. You helped save Etheria. That all means something.”

Catra sighed and released some of the tension from her arms. “Thank you,” she replied softly. “I don’t really think I deserve it right now, so really, thanks. I’m gonna keep getting better and doing better. I want to deserve your forgiveness; everyone’s forgiveness.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Glimmer affirmed with a soft smile.

Now that the tension had dissipated, there was an odd sense of comfort as they both remembered being alone together on Horde Prime’s ship. That was something they would always share. 

“So…” Glimmer started casually, checking her nails. Catra knew she was in trouble. “You and Adora, huh?”

“Nope, we are not having this conversation, Sparkles,” Catra squeaked out, her voice cracking. 

“Aw, come on, _Horde Scum_. Adora has been worming away from me and Bow _all day_.” Glimmer groaned and threw her hands up. “Anyway, I thought we were having a moment. _Spiiiiilll_ ,” she dragged out with a grin that Catra could only describe as ‘shit-eating’. 

Catra glared at her, but received an even heavier glare back. “I don’t even really know what’s going on, okay? We haven’t, like, talked about it properly,” she huffed out. She could feel her cheeks burning. “Happy?”

Glimmer at least had the decency to look sympathetic. Only for a second, though. “Well, get on it! You two have a _lot_ of catching up to do,” she said and wiggled her eyebrows. 

“If you don’t stop I’m literally going to hit you. I don’t care if this is your family’s castle.”

“You wound me, Catra,” she said with a wink. “But seriously, go. You can come back and brood another night.”

Catra rolled her eyes, attempting to hide a smile. “Yeah, whatever. Goodnight, Sparkles.”

“Horde Scum,” Glimmer nodded at her, faux sagely.

* * *

Catra had walked past her and Adora’s room probably six times before she finally had the nerve to open the door. She was disappointed, to say the least, to be met with a dark and empty room. _‘Weird,’_ she thought and glanced around. Adora had definitely been in there earlier, her jacket strewn over the back of the room’s loveseat. Then Catra smacked her forehead. _’Of course.’_

It didn’t take long for her to figure out how to reach the tallest spire of Bright Moon. She pushed open the final door after the many flights of stairs and was met with a figure sitting along the edge of the balcony, illuminated by the millions of new stars, foreign to Etheria’s sky. 

Catra sat next to Adora, wordlessly gazing at the stars with her. Neither of them had truly had the chance to enjoy the stars when they first appeared. Not with the war still going on, not with She-Ra gone, not with Horde Prime’s grip tightening over Etheria. But now? It was the only thing that seemed to matter. 

“They don’t even look real,” Adora whispered. Her eyes were wide and she had a soft smile on her face that Catra would have made fun of in a different life. She leaned back onto the palms of her hands and crossed her feet which were adorned with fluffy looking slippers. A far cry from the girl whose main goal was to become a Force Captain. She looked over at Catra, quirking an eyebrow. “How’d you know I would be up here?”

The girl in question smirked and shrugged. “Please. I _know you_ , Adora. Remember, I’d always find you on a roof somewhere in the Fright Zone, usually when you had a lot to think of or were drowning in praise from everyone and needed a break. Now with the stars out? No way would you miss out a chance on being some creepy roof stalker.”

Adora laughed and rolled her eyes. She gave the other girl a shove without any real strength behind it and that goofy smile was back on her face. It made Catra’s chest tighten and her stomach fill with butterflies. “Well, what are you doing up here?” Catra asked, matching Adora’s leaning position. Now with all of the stars out the sky felt even larger, even more engulfing, to Catra. It was suffocating and relieving all at once to realize how small she was. 

“You already called it: I’m thinking.”

“About?” Catra tried to keep her anxiousness out of her voice, but her tail twitching didn’t help her hide it all too well.

“Well, everything,” Adora said with a small laugh. Catra ignored the disappointment she felt at that. “We _won_. Horde Prime is gone, Etheria is in balance, She-Ra is back, and we have the stars! That didn’t even feel possible in my wildest dreams. There’s also a whole galaxy, no, _universe_ to explore! I’m getting a little overwhelmed right now,” she breathed out and ran a hand through her hair. Her hair was down, cascading across the white tunic she was wearing as pajamas. 

Catra wanted to reach out and brush a strand behind Adora’s ear. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to. “You look happy,” she observed, watching as the stars reflected on Adora’s eyes. 

“I am.” Adora looked at her again and there was that smile, that goofy smile that put Catra’s heart in a cage. Just a moment ago Catra felt incredibly small looking up at the expansive sky and flickering stars. Now, she had never felt so great as she did looking into Adora’s eyes and being the reason she smiled. “I’m even happier now that you’re up here with me.”

Catra wasn’t really sure what curse word came out of her mouth, but it made Adora laugh. 

“I know it’s cheesy, but I’m serious!” Adora said as she slid her fingers over Catra’s. “We haven’t really had time to talk since the Heart, I’m sorry about that. Perfuma had all of these ideas for floral arrangements, which is great, but Frosta kept interrupting us so she could talk about the ‘Snow Park’ she wants to make for everyone which is a great idea, but everyone had great ideas and we kept getting sidetracked and at some point Mermista and Sea Hawk were trying to convince everyone to serve dinner on a ship and after dinner they would burn it as part of a fireworks display and it just… was… a lot.” Her cheeks burned when she realized she was rambling. 

“Do you have anything else you want to share, Princess?” Catra purred out, feeling emboldened by Adora’s hand on hers. 

Adora flushed even harder, laughing nervously. “I don’t get how you do this so easily,” she stammered, looking away. 

“Do what?” She flicked at Adora’s hand with her tail.

“Make me crazy for you with just a few words.” 

“ _Fuck_ , Adora,” Catra mumbled. In just a few seconds she had lost all her bravado. 

Adora blanched at her reaction and pulled her hand away. “Was that okay? Damn it, I think I was reading you the wrong way,” she reasoned and bit her lip and turned away once more. 

“No! No. You didn’t. Shit, I just got-” Catra shook her head and laughed which got the other girl’s attention once more. She ran both hands through her hair, trying to ground herself. She then met Adora’s gaze with fire in her eyes. “I’m crazy for you, Adora. I wasn’t sure if what happened in the Heart was real or if it was just passion and emotions because we thought we were going to die. But I loved you then and I love you now.” She could feel her heartbeat thrumming in her ears and her hands trembling in her lap. 

“Catra…” Adora started. The other girl tightened her fists, preparing for rejection. “Of course I love you. I just didn’t want to scare you away.”

Well, she wasn’t expecting that. “You’re serious?” 

“Of course I am! Um. Catra,” Adora took both of the girl’s hands in hers, “will you be my girlfriend?”

“You’re such a dork,” Catra giggled out. 

“You have to answer the question! Bow has been talking to me all about consent!” 

“ _Yes_ , like that’s even a question,” Catra said and laughed a bit more. “What’s it called, ‘dating’?”

“Yeah! Dating. That means we need to go out on a… date? Yeah, a date! Bow and Glimmer were telling me about what those are like,” Adora self-affirmed with a nod and a completely serious expression. 

“I can’t wait,” Catra whispered and leaned her head towards Adora. “Can I kiss you?” 

Adora hummed and leaned in. They were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on international-spacestation on tumblr if anyone ever wants to talk or drop an ask! Also, kakinaa if you're reading this your comment on 'scars' made my entire week!


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